1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to object-oriented systems, and in particular to a model trace view for object-oriented systems.
2. Description of Related Art
To identify problems in a program, programmers typically use a debugger program that creates a record of the program's execution. This record usually consists of only a textual trace which displays events that transpire during execution. For example, the textual trace displays messages that pass back and forth between program functions and/or applications.
In the case of a complex program that has many functions, the textual trace can be confusing. It fails to provide insight about how a particular function-message transaction relates to other functions or to the overall program. Instead, the textual trace only displays the results of an individual function-message transaction. To understand how a particular function-message transaction affects the program, a programmer may wish to create a separate graphical representation of the trace by hand. Creating this graphical representation can be a time consuming task. Thus, there is a need in the art for a record of the program's execution, that displays both a textual trace and a graphical representation of the trace.